


I'll Hit You When You're Down

by misura



Category: Fastlane
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-26
Updated: 2012-07-26
Packaged: 2017-11-10 18:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/469371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"I'm not a nice guy, all right?" Van said, and Deaq wondered how the hell they'd gotten here, at this conversational point - his fault, probably, for not going along with Van's ego trip, but damn. "I lie to people and I hurt people and I'm </i>not<i> a nice guy."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Hit You When You're Down

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: _Van & or / Deaq, Van must go undercover as an MMA fighter. Van may be pretending but the hits are real._

"Not really our usual sort of case, is it?" Deaq asked, which was putting it mildly, surely, even if he already knew Billie was going to say:

"It's a favor for a friend." Which was all very well, but given that it would be his and Van's asses on the line, and given that neither of them had so much as a scrap of experience with MMA fighting, Deaq felt confident Van would be with him on this: no go.

"Fine, I'll do it," Van said.

 

Van didn't seem to see the problem. And in some ways, okay, what else was new.

In other ways: "All right, I'll bite. What's with the sudden rush to go undercover as a professional punching bag? What, you want to get in touch with your inner masochist or something?"

"The trick is not letting them hit you," Van said, and Deaq thought: _oh my God, he actually means that_ , and then he thought _no, wait, not even Van's that dumb - he's just yanking your chain_.

"The trick is, there is no trick." Other than being able to take whatever they dished out and then dish out more than that yourself. It was _brutal_. Deaq could hold his own when things got down and dirty and nasty, sure, but that was different. "I'm serious, Van. What's your angle?"

Van looked at him, face completely serious, and Deaq thought: _oh_.

"I can take it," Van said.

 _Maybe I could have taken it, too. Maybe I'd have been better at it, even._ But he'd been the one to tell Billie that no, they weren't going to do this one.

"You'd better," he said, and that sounded cold, so he added: "Just don't come crying to me like a little girl when someone gives you a black eye or something." For 'or something' read: broken ribs, broken nose, broken _anything_. Plus, internal bleeding, organ damage, all that fun stuff.

"Hey," Van said. "I come crying, you give me a nice, broad shoulder and - "

"Kiss your booboo all better?"

"Yeah," Van said. "I mean, that's what partners do, right?"

 

Two minutes into his first fight (it would seem longer to Van, Deaq knew) and Van looked sweaty and messy and like he didn't know the meaning of the word 'quit', which was good; they needed him to be good to draw the mark's eye, but that didn't keep Deaq from wincing, every time Van's opponent got in a hit - and he got in a _lot_ ; it was like Deaq had told Van in the car, there was no trick.

Van tried some sort of fancy kick that probably worked real well on a punching bag. On a live, experienced opponent, not so much - Van hit the floor with a thump and the crowd roared and Deaq wanted to pull out a gun and slap a pair of handcuffs on someone, anyone, just to stop this.

Somehow, Van got back on his feet again and they were back to circling each other, looking for a weak spot, an opening.

"Come on, Van. Nail his ass," Deaq said, and the crowd was still noisy, smelling blood, so there was absolutely no way Van could have heard him - not even the woman right next to him had, most likely, but Van looked straight at him for maybe half a second and grinned and nodded, and two seconds later, his opponent was on the floor and not getting up again in a hurry.

 

Van took his victory like the puffed up jerkass that he was.

"Admit it: I was great."

It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Van was hurt, even with a shirt covering most of his chest and part of his arms. Deaq wondered if that was why Van was wearing it, if deep down inside, he knew he'd maybe gotten in a bit too deep with this one.

No crying, so maybe they'd get lucky. Maybe Van's first act had been so convincing that they wouldn't need a second one to convince the mark.

Maybe Van would start keeping his shirts on all the time now.

"You did okay," Deaq said.

"I did better than okay," Van said.

"You did all right."

"That's the same as saying I did okay."

"You did nice."

"You _suck_ as a partner. I mean, 'you did nice' - seriously?"

"What's wrong with 'nice'?"

"You're saying I'm a nice guy?" Van asked.

Deaq hadn't been saying anything of the kind; they'd been talking about Van's performance as an MMA fighter and not talking about how badly he got hurt - or how much worse it could have been.

"Yeah, I'm saying you're a nice guy," he said.

"I'm not a nice guy, all right?" Van said, and Deaq wondered how the hell they'd gotten here, at this conversational point - his fault, probably, for not going along with Van's ego trip, but damn. "I lie to people and I hurt people and I'm _not_ a nice guy."

"You're my partner and I don't completely hate your ass." Fact was, he rather _liked_ Van's ass; it was just the mind inhabiting the body that ass was attached to that drove him up the walls sometimes, and even then, on some level deep down inside, he knew it was just Van being Van, and Van was basically all right. Screwed up, vain, cocky and annoying, but still.

"Thanks, man," Van said.

"You're welcome."

 

There were two more fights and Van won both of them - the second one easier than the third one.

Deaq went to see him, after - screw keeping his distance to preserve their cover; he'd already introduced himself as someone with an interest in MMA fighting (or rather: betting on MMA fighting) so what of it if he went to check out one of them for himself?

"I'm not crying," Van said right away, but he was slumped against a wall, eyes closed again the moment he'd seen it was Deaq, looking pale and if they'd put in a kitten against him right now, Deaq's money would be on the kitten.

"You did good." No obvious injuries, but lots of bruises.

"Good, but not great?"

Give the man a finger and he'd want a hand. "You did great."

"Smooth."

"Hey, man, that's me." There'd be people outside. Not a good idea to get out of here while supporting Van, and there was no way Van would be walking out of here by himself right now.

Deaq settled down next to Van, back against the wall, not a lot of distance between them, but just enough for Van to feel Deaq wasn't getting into his personal space, even if, of course, Van being Van, 'personal space' was something that changed from day to day.

"We got in?"

Deaq considered lying. "Not yet." Van would never ask for that shoulder, he knew; they'd just been messing around. "You want that shoulder?"

"I'm good."

"You want that kiss?"

Van opened his eyes again. "You think I'm the kind of girl who puts out on a first date?"

"I don't think you're a girl." Too easy, really. "You just act like one sometimes. Anyway, in what way is this our first time out together?"

" 'Deaq, you big stud. Take me home or lose me forever.' "

"I am _not_ Tom Cruise. Dude only wishes he looked as good as me. And you are _not_ \- whatever her name was. It's a chick movie."

" _Top Gun_ 's a classic, all right?"

"A classic movie for chicks."

"Shut up and kiss me. Does that work for you, Mister Wouldn't Know a Classic Movie If It Bit Him in the Ass?"

Van needed a bed, and not for kissing in. He needed bandages, some ice, maybe. "We should go on a date some time. You know, a normal date. Grab dinner, watch a movie."

"When's the last time you did normal?" Van asked, and he had a pretty good point, really.

" 'bout the same time you did."

"You ask me, normal's overrated, anyway."

"No, it's not," Deaq said firmly, because it was an important point he felt worth making; Van needed more normal in his life, more stability - someone to come home to, maybe. Someone to look after him, definitely, to have his back, even when he was being an idiot.

Good thing Deaq figured he knew just the guy for the job.


End file.
